There is known an outer slide type sunroof device which includes a front cover and a rear cover constituting a part of a vehicle roof such that the front cover slides over the rear cover (see U.S. Pat. No. 9,114,689B). In this sunroof device, a roof seal is attached on the roof side to surround the roof opening peripherally and a cover seal is attached on the side edge of the rear cover so as to contact the roof seal, whereby the gap between the roof and the rear cover is sealed. When the front cover slides rearward over the rear cover, a lever (support member) of the mounting device of the front cover moves between the roof seal and the cover seal, so that the front cover is allowed to slide a large distance in the rearward direction.
In the sunroof device having such a structure, when installing the sunroof unit to the roof, it is necessary to attach the roof seal to the roof, which is a part of the vehicle body, and thus, the installation work is cumbersome. In other words, a structure in that the all seal members are provided on the sunroof unit is desirable. As an outer slide type sunroof unit having such a structure, a sunroof unit is known in which weather strips (seal members) each including a first seal portion for resiliently contacting an outer peripheral edge of the movable panel (front panel) or the fixed panel (rear panel) and a second seal portion for resiliently contacting an edge of the roof opening are fitted to respective vertical walls formed to stand upwardly from a guide rail or from a front housing or the like, which are part of the sunroof unit (see US2013/0307296A1). In this sunroof unit, a link member supporting the front panel moves in the fore-and-aft direction between the vertical wall and the rear panel by resiliently deforming the first seal portion.
However, in the sunroof unit disclosed in US2013/0307296A1, the seal members and the vertical walls supporting them need to be provided along the entire circumference of the front and rear panels so as to surround these panels, and thus, the seal structure is complex. Further, in a case where there is a manufacturing error in the roof, it is necessary to adjust the heights of the fixed panel and the seal members such that they are aligned with the roof, but in the sunroof unit disclosed in US2013/0307296A1, it is not possible to adjust the heights of the seal members.